Art of forming rail-braces



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. A. TRANELL.

ART OF FORMING RAIL BRAGES.

No. 403,450. Patented May 14, 1889.

bays W. 3y c/iumw J. A. TRANELL.

ART OF FORMING RAIL BRAGES.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

No. 408,450. Baltented May 14, 1-889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J OIIAN A. TRANELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCGUIRE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

ART OF FORMING RAlL-BRACES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,450, dated May 14, 1889. Application filed February 26, 1889- Serial No. 301,281. (No model.)

To (LZZ 20700122, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHAN A. TRANELL, a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Art of Forming Rail- Braces from Old Rails, of which the following is a specification.

Prior to my invention it has been proposed to produce several specific forms of rail-braces from old rails, and in order to produce such 'forms several methods of treating blanks consisting of certain lengths or sections of old rails have been disclosed.

In carrying out my invention I produce a novel form of rail-brace by a novel method or process which consists in treating a blank consisting of a suitable length of rail as follows, to wit: I notch the end portions of the web of the blank, so as to leave at each end of the blank certain projecting end portions of the base thereof, and these said end portions of the base I turn down at right angles to the under side of the base, so as to provide a pair of flanges or abutments. I also flatten or spread out the top or tread portion of said blank and provide it with bolt-holes, and in finishing the brace I adapt the height of its said flanges to the space that will be between the tread and base of such rail as the brace may .be applied to.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation a blank consisting of a suitable length of such rail, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the same. Fig. represents said blank having notches formed in the end portions of its web. Fig. 4' represents the blank of Fig. 3 with the tread flattened out. Fig. 5 represents the blank of Fig. 4 with the end portions of the base turned down. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the finished brace. Fig. 7 represents in perspective a portion of a railway-track with said brace applied, it being as a matter of course understood that in practice a number of such braces will be used.

The blank A (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) consists of a suitable length of old rail or rejected new rail, as the case may be, it being understood that I do not limit myself to the use of old rails. Said blank comprises the tread a, the web a, and the base a By means of suitable dies or the like I notch the end portions of the web, as at 1 and 1, Figs. 3 and 4, thereby leaving the end portions, 2 and 2, of the base a free to be turned down at right angles to the under side of the base, as in Fig. 5. Prior to or after or simultaneously with the formation of the notches 1, I may also flatten out the tread a in order to extend the web and provide a plate, 3, which can be laid upon and bolted to a cross-tie. The ends 2 of the base a are turned down by suitable dies or the like, and will be of a width proportional to the depth to which the notches 1 are formed in the web. The blank, after being thus brought into the form shown in Fig. 5, is subjected to the action of suitable finishing-dies, which convert it into the finished brace shown in Fig. 6, wherein it will be observed that the finishing-dies have served to.

reduce the height of the flanges 2, and to form in the lower edge of the base a a notch or space, 4, suitable for the head of such spike as may be employed for holding a rail onto a cross-tie. \Vhen applied for bracing a rail, as in Fig. 7, thelower ends of the vertical flanges or wings 2 rest upon the base, and the upper ends of said vertical flanges bear against the under side of the tread of the rail, the vertical edges of the flanges 2 being held in abutment against the vertical web of the rail, as will be understood without further illustration.

In various prior forms of braces made from old rails the metal has been so squeezed or compressed as to leave cracks or flaws in the brace, and that, owing to such detects, the braces frequently become broken. I find by practical experiment that such flaws do not exist in the brace made by my improved method herein involved, and hence that my said method is exceedingly desirable and satisfactory.

What I claim as my invention is 1. As an improvement in the art of producing rai1-braces,notching the end portions end portions, 2, of the base thereof, and subof the Web in a blank such as set forth and jecting the same to finishing-dies, substanturning down the ends 2 of the base of the tially as described.

notched blank, for the purpose described. J OI-IAN A. TRANELL. 5 2. Notching the end portions of the Web Witnesses:

of a blank such as set forth, flattening out CHAS. G. PAGE,

the tread a of said blank, turning down the ANNIE COATES. 

